Joe Uribe Jr. Q&A

Joe Uribe Jr.

May 8, 2018
by Sean Ostruszka

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In seven years of fishing the Costa FLW Series Western Division, you have five top-five finishes in the Angler of the Year race and two more top 20s. That’s kind of ridiculous, don’t you think?

Yeah, I’ve been very blessed. I’ve been fishing for quite a while. So even though I’m pretty young at 38, I’m still a veteran out here. I have confidence in my knowledge of the lakes and in my abilities.

To what do you attribute most of your success?

I think it’s a few things. I have a better understanding of the lakes out here [in the West] than I do elsewhere. Part of it also is how I practice; how I fish. I’m a very technical, organized angler. I also try to be very observant, both of the conditions and of other anglers’ body language. You can tell if a guy is calm and has a good bag or if he’s struggling and making a lot of casts. Little things like that make a difference.

Well, it’s obviously all working. Let’s talk about practice. I hear you have a great partner.

I do. My sister, Rachel, travels and practices with me. She’s been a really big reason for my success, especially in the last three seasons since she’s been a co-angler in every event.

We complement each other really well. If I’m fishing fast up shallow, she’ll be slowing down out deep. She’s the reason I won the tournament at Clear Lake in 2015.

Why’s that?

Well, I’d been cranking shallow, but I felt my pattern was running out. She’d found a pattern dragging a Texas rig in deeper water, and she did well the first day doing that and really well the second day.

The night after the second day, she told me I really should try her pattern. Well, I started out doing mine, but then I finally gave it a shot and I caught a 6-pounder. But after an hour it was getting windier and I felt my crankbait pattern would improve. So I went back to that and lost a 4-pounder. I thought I needed one more good bite, and with 30 minutes left I decided to try her pattern again. First cast was a 9-pounder.

She was actually in a camera boat watching me when that happened. I remember turning to her and her just saying, “I told you.”

Who got you both into fishing?

Our dad, Joe Sr. We grew up in a tough neighborhood in Long Beach, Calif., but he introduced us to fishing, hunting and the outdoors. It really kept us out of trouble.

I take it there weren’t too many outdoorsmen in your neighborhood growing up, huh?

No. My friends always gave me a hard time about me fishing and it being boring. They thought we were just bobber fishing, waiting for something to happen. Then, once I started fishing tournaments, they were like, “How much money did you make?” It wasn’t so boring to them then.

Circling back, in that 2015 season you earned two wins and another top 10. What was that like?

It was amazing. That first tournament at Havasu was special because it was my first win ever in the Costas. I’d almost given up on trying to win, because I’d finished second and third so many times, but never won. I was mentally exhausted from trying to figure out why. I’d finally let it be before that season, left it up to God, and figured when it was my time it would be my time.

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